Nestle India MD Suresh Narayanan is also chairman now

Nestle India, in a filing to the BSE said that the company, at the board of directors' meet on October 29, has appointed Suresh Narayanan, the company's current managing director, as the chairman of the company. 

The move was made after the company's current chairman, Antonio Helio Waszyk retired on October 1 this year.

Narayanan was appointed in the wake of the Maggi noodles fiasco, after the company's then managing director Etienne Benet was called back by the parent company.

The BSE filing said, "Narayanan has extensive and senior management experience, both in India as well as International markets."

Before being appointed for the India operations, Narayanan was the Chairman and CEO at Nestle's Philippines operations. He took charge in India on August 1.

On Thursday, Nestle India posted its second quarterly loss in nearly 30 years, with the company's standalone net profit dropping 60.1% to Rs 124.20 crore compared to a net profit of Rs 311.29 crore posted in the same period last year. 

The company's total sales were down 32.12% to Rs 1,736.20 crore as against Rs 2,557.80 crore a year ago.

"Export sales decreased 6.4%, which are impacted by the Maggi noodles issue and lower sales to Nepal due to the blockade of the border in the last week of September 2015," the company said.

The FSSAI had banned Maggi noodles in June, calling it "unsafe and hazardous" for consumption after finding lead levels beyond permissible limits. However, after repeated hearings and fresh tests recently, Maggi noodles was cleared for consumption. Since then, the company has resumed production at three of its eight plants in India, and promises that the instant noodles will be back on the selves soon.

At 1011 hours, the company's share price was down 1.08% or Rs 68.10 lower at Rs 6,214 per piece.